if you see something, say nothing

"Sorta," he answered flippantly to Aesop's first question before he leant forward to look at the half-uprooted plant. He would expand on his findings while exploring if the man asked, but preferred to remain cryptic about them because, in truth, he hadn't really seen anything that was all that exciting — a few fields, one dark stranger that chased him away, a mountain that, unbeknownst to him, had since been claimed. Being an aspiring Outrider, Atreyu knew he had to step his scouting game up. But he wouldn't admit to it, of course.

At Aesop's answer, the boy huffed a laugh, acting offended. "But that was my plant," he said, giving a feigned sad look to it, before grinning again. "Whatever, it was the runt anyway." He wasn't sure why the man even wanted it; perhaps he was training to become a Naturalist or Healer. He was pretty sure those trades specialised in plants. Or something. He wasn't good with all that smart stuff; Atreyu was a wolf of brawn, not brains.